Balance

Those who reside in the upper Midwest are in the midst of an Indian summer. The nights are crisp and cool, while the days are nourishing and warm. The sky is vibrantly blue and the trees offer a rainbow of color for our eyes to absorb. This is, without a doubt, the most beautiful time of year to behold.

This is the time of year when those who retreat inward once the temperatures plummet, spend their days preparing for winter. Too soon from now, the only rays of sunshine we’ll be given, will be those that found entry into our homes through a window that allowed it to cascade across the floor; defined and limited by the geometric shape that granted its entrance.

These few days of heavily laden sunshine and warmth are summer’s final song; the performance offered after we’ve beckoned it to come back out onto the landscape that is its stage. Those who are familiar with the routine of autumn, enjoy its curtain call with melancholy.

Nature rarely offers anything that is not a paradox – something that is both beautiful and bitter. Just as human emotion has the ability to span from benevolence to brutality - the days of autumn are no exception. For the moment, we feel the kindness of Nature. Soon, we will feel the harshness that never fails to follow.

Before we are ready, the forecast will reveal the necessary downturn. Like an eager crowd we will try to persuade summer to grace the stage again, if only for a day. But, unable to ignore the coolness felt with its retreat, we too are forced to turn our backs and walk away; knowing it will be many months before we are able to hear the soothing sounds of summer once again.

I am not well suited for the roller coaster that is weather in the upper Midwest. Yet, I recognize the importance it offers. One is not given the opportunity to savor the smell of leaves as they curl on the ground and change from green to amber without also savoring the sharp winter air that arrives soon after. Our outside world will quickly turn colorless, but before it does, it first offers a full spectrum for us to enjoy. In doing so, reminding us that nothing can provide a greater visual splendor than that created by Nature. And nothing can offer a better example of the balance that is life, than Nature itself. Often it is the darkest of emotions or the most painful of memories that prompts an artist to create a masterpiece. And it is the unforgiving, cold days of winter that first prompts the time we have before us now.

Sane